


As It Should Be

by AzureAilurophile



Series: Good Things Fall Apart [3]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: M/M, but like an au wizards, much as I love the idea of wizard!Seamus he’s a normal boy in this, so let’s just say that this fic takes place sometime during wizards, they’re actually dating in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:46:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25559047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzureAilurophile/pseuds/AzureAilurophile
Summary: “Because I’m not used to caring about people who can’t protect themselves.”Seamus immediately looked offended, but Krel wasn’t really interested in sparing his feelings right now. “Okay, first of all, ouch, and second of all, I can defend myself just as well as you can.”“Exactly!” He couldn’t help gesturing with all four hands, agitation expressing itself through movement. “And even if you were better at fighting, even if you were a true warrior, that’s still no guarantee! How am I supposed to just keep you in my life knowing you would be safer if we had never met?”Krel just wanted to have a nice night out with his boyfriend, but fate had other plans.
Relationships: Seamus Johnson/Krel Tarron
Series: Good Things Fall Apart [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837996
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44





	As It Should Be

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the song “Alone With Me” by Vance Joy. Beta’d by the wonderful Sapphire, all errors are my own.

Why was this his life now? All Krel had wanted to do was have a nice night out with Seamus, with his _boyfriend_ , but apparently fate had other plans. Oh, the evening had been going well enough until their date got crashed by some terrifying bird-cat hybrid, a _griffin_ Seamus had called it, intent on wreaking havoc. After a valiant attempt to fight off the beast, both boys determined that defeating it was beyond their capabilities and they needed a Plan B.

Unfortunately, Plan B consisted of them luring the creature away from the restaurant’s other outdoor patrons and leading it on a merry chase through the streets of Arcadia. Said chase ultimately came to an end when a van plowed into the griffin, taking it down and leaving them free to make their escape. Krel would have worried more about abandoning the owners of the van to deal with the damage, to vehicle and griffin alike, except they had been in the process of being pursued by Detective Scott at the time of the accident. After everything Arcadia had been through recently, Darci’s father should be more than capable of handling a case like this, magical and mundane combined, so they left him to it.

Which led to where they were now, huddled in a narrow back alley desperately trying to get their breath back after a truly impressive chase. Sure, there was a part of Krel that wished he could have done more to protect his boyfriend, but it wasn’t like Seamus didn’t already know fighting wasn’t really his forte and, at the end of the day, the most important thing was that everyone was safe.

“Man, I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in my life!” Seamus straightened up from his previously hunched, hands-on-knees position, back facing the entrance to the alley. He had insisted Krel enter the alleyway first so no one would be able to see the glow of his Akiridion form from the street. Krel had turned off his transduction at the beginning of the fight in the hopes that it would give him an edge against the fierce creature, but all it had really done was make him a more appealing target. Oh well, at least that had worked out well for their backup plan. “My heart is beating so fast right now! Feel!” And, without any more ceremony than that, he grabbed Krel’s lower left hand and placed it flush against his chest.

Now, Krel knew about heartbeats. He knew that many creatures on Earth, humans included, had one and that the overall steady rhythm would continue as long as the creature lived. He even knew what one felt like thanks to the transduction process, and hadn’t that taken some getting used to when he and his sister had first started masquerading as humans in their early days on this planet. Sure, Krel knew about heartbeats, but that still didn’t prepare him for the feel of his boyfriend’s heart thundering against his open palm.

Seamus was just standing there in front of him with this mad grin on his face, and Krel knew that look, that was the _I-just-escaped-from-certain-danger-and-will-live-to-see-another-day_ look, and his eyes were shining in the combined light from the distant street lamps and the natural glow given off by Krel’s own body, _and there was something weirdly satisfying about them being close enough for his bioluminescence to reflect off of Seamus’ skin like that_ , and underneath it all that frantic drumbeat, the reminder that they were together and _alive alive alive_ -

Krel didn’t remember moving. One moment he was looking into Seamus’ gorgeous blue eyes, the same, and somehow not the same at all, color as his own, and the next his upper pair of hands were holding his boyfriend’s head steady so he could kiss the daylights out of him. Not to be left out, his final free hand snaked around Seamus’ waist, drawing him closer.

This wasn’t their first kiss, they’ve been dating long enough that both of them have made shy moves on the other when Krel was in his human form, but it was their first kiss with him being an Akiridion. Seamus was so _warm_ , Akiridions weren’t cold per se, but they didn’t radiate warmth like humans did, and Krel had to tilt his boyfriend’s head up to get a good angle because he was taller like this, and it was honestly perfect for all of about 5 seconds.

Then Krel’s brain caught up with his body and he kind of freaked out, letting go of the blond in front of him like he had just caught fire. What was he doing? Sure they were dating now, but Krel didn’t really think of himself as the ‘jump my boyfriend in a back alley’ type. Maybe he was feeling some of that grateful to be alive mania himself. Although he would have thought he’d be over that by now given how much his life was in danger these days.

“You don’t have to stop if you don’t want to.” When Krel had first pulled away Seamus had looked a little dazed, like his brain also needed some time to catch up with what was going on, but now he was looking way too smug for Krel’s liking. “I know I’m pretty irresistible.”

Why was this their relationship? Always trying to one-up each other no matter the situation. Most of the time it was great, but Krel was feeling just a little too out of control to appreciate it right now.

When the taunt failed to get the desired response, Seamus dropped the act, letting his concern shine through. “Hey, are you okay?” Concern evolved into outright worry when, instead of answering, Krel turned so his back was facing an alley wall and carefully slid to the ground.

“I don’t know.” A thoughtful pause, which Seamus used to join his boyfriend on the ground. They mirrored each other, human on the left, Akiridion on the right, backs against the wall and legs stretched out in front of them. Krel regarded the being next to him seriously before declaring, “I like you.”

“Well, I certainly hope so otherwise I did a terrible job of explaining exactly what being boyfriends entails.”

“ _Seamus_.”

“Okay.” Krel didn’t use that tone often, but when he did Seamus knew the time for teasing had passed. “Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”

“Because…” Krel’s thoughts instantly returned to the disastrous fight from earlier. They’d had some close calls before they’d gotten away and it was just beginning to dawn on him how much worse things could have gone. Seamus wasn’t a warrior, he wasn’t like Aja or Varvatos or Zadra, _or his parents_ , and Krel could have lost him tonight. The idea was...unacceptable. “Because I’m not used to caring about people who can’t protect themselves.”

Seamus immediately looked offended, but Krel wasn’t really interested in sparing his feelings right now. “Okay, first of all, ouch, and second of all, I can defend myself just as well as you can.”

“Exactly!” He couldn’t help gesturing with all four hands, agitation expressing itself through movement. “And even if you were better at fighting, even if you were a true warrior, that’s still no guarantee! How am I supposed to just keep you in my life knowing you would be safer if we had never met?”

Seamus looked contemplative, taking in everything Krel had just confessed before responding, “Alright, let me tell you a story.”

“I fail to see how a story could possibly solve this problem.”

An unimpressed look that had Krel sheepishly quieting down.

“So growing up, my best friend was my cousin Mark who lived down the street. Now, Mark had an older sister, Katherine, and she was honestly the best. Always willing to play games, never complained about having to watch us whenever the adults would go out, just a saint.”

Seamus paused here and something dark entered his eyes, Krel recognized the look from the times the other boy had talked about the loss of his mother. “When my mom passed away, Katherine made sure I knew she was there if I ever needed her, no matter what. I don’t think she’ll ever be able to understand how much her support meant to me.”

Krel could imagine. He thought about what losing his own parents would have been like without Aja, but quickly discarded the notion. It had been the worst day of his life even with Aja there to share his pain, without her it would have been unbearable. He moved his top left hand to grip Seamus’ right one, squeezing gently to convey his own support, and got a shaky smile for his effort.

“Anyway, Katherine was decently older than Mark and me which meant she was getting married and starting a family around the same time we were starting high school.” An awkward pause before Seamus gave Krel a quizzical look. “Wait, do you know anything about human reproduction?”

Krel admitted that his knowledge on the topic was limited and he received a basic rundown. It typically takes a man and a woman to start the process and then the woman carries the baby in her own body for approximately nine months before bringing a brand new human into the world. Krel doubted the whole thing was as simple as Seamus was making it seem and was quickly proven right when the blond resumed his story.

“Katherine’s pregnancy was...complicated. I honestly couldn’t tell you everything the doctors diagnosed her with, but I do know at one point she and her husband had a long talk about adopting children one day instead of trying to have their own. For him, having a biological child wasn’t worth the risk to Katherine’s life, but it was ultimately her decision.”

His boyfriend pulled out his phone and searched through his photos for a moment before turning the screen so Krel could see a snapshot of a pretty young woman and a laughing toddler. Even though they were cousins and not siblings it was obvious that Seamus and the woman were related, they had the same eyes and nose, and _oh, maybe that was why people had a hard time believing he and Aja were brother and sister when they first started using their human forms_. Katherine’s smile was radiant, almost matched by the sunlight shining off the water in the photo’s background, the two humans were on a boat. At the bottom of the picture was a typed caption, _Hannah’s first day on the lake! Safe to say she loves it!_

Seamus was speaking again and Krel quickly refocused his attention on the boy at his side. “Katherine wasn’t willing to let fear control her life. She took a risk, but it worked out for her in the end. I’m not saying that will always be the case, you and I both know that life isn’t always kind.” Now it was Seamus’ turn to squeeze Krel’s hand and it was honestly astounding how comforting that small gesture was. “But I’m willing to take the risk if you are. I don’t want to miss out on something great just because we’re afraid of losing what we have.”

Krel couldn’t help raising a teasing eyebrow. “We?”

Seamus scoffed softly as he let go of Krel’s hand and rose to his feet, turning to face the Akiridion still on the ground. “Yeah, we. I was scared out of my mind earlier.” A slight hesitation and an open look that made the blond appear very vulnerable all of a sudden. “I don’t like the idea of you being in danger either. You’re important to me.”

He offered Krel a hand up and Krel took it, one hand in Seamus’, the other gripping his forearm. They faced each other for a moment, hand in hand, and then there was a sharp tug and Krel was being pulled forward and Seamus was leaning up and they were kissing again. His boyfriend looked way too pleased with himself when he pulled away. “Now we’re even.”

Krel could only react with a fond eye-roll, somewhat reluctantly removing his hands from Seamus’ person. “Is everything a competition with you?”

A dazzling smile that really shouldn’t have been as impressive as it was given the low lighting. “What can I say? I like a challenge.”

Didn’t they both? Krel dropped his head against Seamus’ shoulder, mentally thanking Toby for teaching him what felt like the perfect response for this situation. “Since when are you so smooth?”

“Since you’re the one getting flustered instead of me.”

And yeah maybe his posture was giving him away, but he couldn’t just let that comment go, even if it was kind of true at the moment. “Please, who says I’m flustered?”

“Um, I’m going to go with you since you’re currently giving the streetlights a run for their money.”

With a push of a button, that incriminating glow was extinguished and Krel was playfully shoved away from his temporary support.

“Uncool!” But Seamus was still smiling so there was no way he actually meant it. “I know dinner kind of got interrupted earlier, but do you want to grab some dessert together before we call it a night? There’s this little bakery downtown that has a pretty decent selection of pastries and everything I’ve ever gotten there has been amazing.”

And maybe they didn’t know what the future would bring, maybe there were no guarantees that everything would work out for them in the end, but Krel suddenly knew that he was willing to try. That he wanted to see what they could become. Together.

“Lead the way.”

**Author's Note:**

> Why yes I do subscribe to the idea that the Akiridion version of blushing is just them glowing brighter than they normally do. Also, please imagine every moment in "So I'm Dating a Sorceress" where Toby is giving Jim dating advice, but replace Jim with Krel. Thanks to everyone who has left kudos and comments on my previous oneshots! This was the last idea I had written up so if I end up posting anything else it’ll most likely be after Wizards airs! I’ve really enjoyed sharing these stories with you guys and can’t wait to see what TOA has in store for us next!


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